Many travellers were stranded at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja, on Wednesday due to flight delays caused by scarcity of aviation fuel, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

Most airlines had informed their prospective passengers about the non-availability of the product and the resultant effect of flight delays. NAN gathered that aviation oil marketers now ration the product to airlines, including foreign airlines, due the limited supply of the product. Mr Abdullahi Saroke, the Station Manager, Azman Air, told NAN that aviation fuel scarcity had affected the operation of many airlines for more than a week. Saroke, however, said that Azman had not cancelled any of its flights as a result of the current development.

  He said that most airlines had been able to sustain their operations with flight delays, adding that local airlines were the worst-hit. “Local airlines are the worst-hit; we need more of the product for our operations, because foreign airlines now source for the product from their home countries. “The product is currently being sold at between N113 per litre and N115 per litre. Total Oil had hitherto sold at N110 per litre but now sells at N115.’’ According to him, the scarcity and current price of the product has not affected ticket fare. “Despite the challenge of fuel scarcity, the ticket price has been consistent among many airlines.’’ Confirming the developmet, Mrs Henrietta Yakubu, the Deputy General Manager, Corporate Affairs, Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), told NAN that airlines had been making effort to fly with pockets of delays. Yakubu said that even though the situation had persisted, no flight cancellation had been recorded. She said that airline operators were making efforts to meet their passengers’ needs. A traveller, Mr Jones Aku, said that he was to travel to Port Harcourt with an 8:00 a.m. flight but was told that fuel scarcity had made it difficult for the flight to take-off. Aku said he had waited for more than four hours expecting that the airline would announce the flight take-off. He urged the Federal Government to urgently address the situation. “I urge the government to urgently do something about this problem because air transportation is very critical to businesses and the economy. “I have waited for my flight for over four hours now and I don’t even know when the flight will be ready. “This is not good for business; this not good for the airlines and it is not good for the economy as a whole,’’he said.